Reviews written by registered userFields201

3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:Good is all I can say, 15 February 2013

I was so looking forward to this movie ever since I heard the press
release that it was being made. I liked some of the action scenes and I
am a huge Bruce Willis fan.... and that's about it.

Where to begin? Well, for starters, the story is rather bland. For a
Die Hard film, I would rather see the terrorists planning some kind of
heist. It makes the story a little bit more interesting. Instead, they
are after some file that we don't even know what it is until the third
act (apparently its on the bad guy of the film). It reminded me of Home
Alone 3 when the bad guys were looking for a computer chip in a toy
car. Not only that, but it just looks like they were making it up as
they were going along.

The villains were also forgettable. These are the worst villains in the
franchise. At least in the previous Die Hard films, they were somewhat
dangerous. Hans Gruber was terrifying and made his mark when he shot
Tokagi, and that bad guy from the second one crashed planes full of
innocent people, and Simon seemingly planted a bomb in a school, and
the villain in the fourth film pretty much took control of the world!
So what made these villains stand out? Ummmm.... well.... they beat the
crap of the McClanes. That's all I can really say. I guess having nukes
is bad. Really, they just sucked.

Now this one pains me the worst: John McClane. I know he's this
wisecracking hero but he comes off as annoying. For the first half of
the movie he just sounded like a spoiled child. He also was the blame
why the whole mess happened in the first place. Stopping his son from
getting away from the terrorists and then whining the whole way through
didn't help much either. To top it off, he really just felt like he was
more in the background. I know they wanted to have this father/son
story akin to Indiana Jones but like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it
just cheapens out lead character who we've been following for four
films now.

I really hope they make a Die Hard 6 and give John McClane the film
that he deserves. Knowing Hollywood, John will probably be at home
barking orders while his kids go out and does all the work. Seriously,
I hope the sixth Die Hard is the bow out of the franchise that we need,
otherwise I would feel pretty bad for John McClane.

13 out of 14 people found the following review useful:Christmas Story 2 Doesn't Exist, 6 January 2013

There's never been a sequel to The Christmas Story. You may have seen a
movie you THOUGHT was Christmas Story 2, but there never was a
Christmas Story 2. Daniel Stern never tried to replace Darren McGavin.
There's never been a Christmas Story sequel that shovels every
memorable moment into the sequel just because. There's never been a
Jean Shepard soundalike that would fit right at home with a video game
version of the film.

I know the filmmakers were trying hard but let's be honest, was this
film really necessary? I mean, I'm sure there was a love and devotion
to the film because they were huge fans of the original but if that's
the case, everyone should just make their own spin on Christmas Story
2. That's what it seems like anyway.

The film takes place with Ralphie in his teen years. I will say one
good thing that they did pick a decent Ralphie. Heck, I even liked
Flick and Schwartz in this. Ralphie wants a car for Christmas as
opposed to the Red Rider BB Gun. There's a miss opportunity here where
instead of "You'll shoot your eye out" it could be something like, "You
can't drive, kid" or something to that effect. Then Ralphie ends up
damaging the car and the car owner wants him to pay for it so he and
his friends go get demeaning jobs.

The problem with this movie is that it's not nearly as fun as Christmas
Story. It tries hard, but it doesn't succeed. Ralphie even has these
imagination sequences that seem too juvenile for someone at his age.
They refer to Christmas Story like it was last year when it's supposed
to be years later. Wouldn't they be talking about a different Christmas
by now? It's just not very good. Oh, and Daniel Stern (as good as an
actor he is) just comes off as annoying and I can't see The Old Man
anywhere in him.

I'll end this review on a good note though. The love interest is
insanely hot. I see Ralphie has good tastes. Unfortunately how he talks
to her at the end is shoehorned in and-- OK I'm trying to end on a good
note here. The girl is gorgeous. That is all.

6 out of 15 people found the following review useful:Rather Watch The Remakes, 4 January 2013

I have a confession: I liked the two remakes by Platinum Dunes. I
thought they were entertaining, dumb horror films and dare I say it,
actually kinda scary. They weren't masterpieces or anything but I
enjoyed them for the most part so when I found out yet another Texas
Chainsaw movie was coming out, and even though I wasn't impressed with
the trailer, I decided to go see it.

What was I thinking?

I think you are forced to see it in 3D because, well, it says 3D on it
but most of the time you forgot you are even watching it in 3D. It adds
nothing to this movie. The movie starts off showing clips of the very
original Texas Chainsaw Massacre which confused me because it totally
obliterates the remakes. Actually it ignores the sequels too as the
story picks off from there. It starts off with these hicks burning down
the home of Leatherface and his family and one of the hicks takes a
baby and kills the mother. Flash-forward to.... how many years later?
Is it supposed to be 2012 because the baby should around forty, not in
her early twenties as she clearly looks like. Anyway, she finds out she
inherited this house and her and her cookie-cutter friends and some
hitchhiker who appears nice only turns out to be a thief all go there.
Then Leatherface turns out to be in the basement and all hell breaks
loose.

This movie is so stupid I don't know where to begin. Well, the actions
of the characters are just stupid. Before I get into that, though,
there is one good scene in the film when Leatherface is chasing them
but it all goes downhill from there. The movie offers up these turn of
events that make no sense whatsoever. A cop goes back to the house
alone and there is no backup anywhere in sight for one lone cop in a
house with a crazed psycho with a chainsaw. Then characters turn bad
for stupid reasons and one of them that played an intricate part of the
storyline just disappears somewhere, never to be heard from again. Then
by the end of the film, I don't even know who to root for the main
heroine turns completely idiotic. Oh, and the ending just plain sucked.

This film is bad in so many levels. I kept thinking, "Who wrote this
crap?" in so many parts of the movie. There wasn't many people at the
theater either and I saw it at a night showing. If that's an
indication, there might not be another Texas Chainsaw movie. Oh well.

5 out of 12 people found the following review useful:Hands down! Best of 2012!, 2 January 2013

Prior to seeing this movie, I did hear some good buzz. I was tired and
really wasn't in the mood to see it but I didn't want to let down my
lady friend so I went. I am so glad I did! When a movie draws you in
from frame 1 to the very end, that's great storytelling. This film
proves that you don't need any gimmicks Hollywood shovels at you to
immerse you into a film when good storytelling fares better than any
gimmick you can throw out there.

I don't even know where to start. I guess I can start with the
performances. Let's just say the performances were so good, that I got
lost in the characters. Jamie Fox, who is a very talented actor,
actually got me worried because at first I thought that any actor could
play that role. But as time went on, I can't imagine any other actor
who can pull that performance off as well as he can. Christoph Waltz
proves that you can never say that actors these days are bad. He is
incredible, as always! The biggest surprise to me, however, is with
Leonard Dicaprio who plays a very mean businessman, and he played it so
well that I even forgot that he was Leonardo Dicaprio. I believed his
character. And wait until you see Samuel L. Jackson. He was hilarious!

The story was riveting. It follows two bounty hunters (Waltz and Fox)
on a mission to rescue Fox's wife from a corrupt businessman. The
journey there is pure filmmaking genius as this is what a film is
supposed to be. It conveys all kinds of emotions and when its funny,
its laugh-out-loud funny, and when its suspenseful, you are at the edge
of your seat. Honestly, this is what films should be and definitely a
testament to what a great film-going experience is supposed to be.

I honestly can't believe it took me this long to see this movie and
glad I got to experience it at the theater. Next time, when I hear good
buzz like that, I should listen. I was actually thinking this film was
going to be boring. I was so wrong this time and I'm the type of guy
who would never admit it. Best film of 2012 and most likely at the top
10 of all time for me!

2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:What did I just watch?, 23 December 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This was a very weird film. I don't know what else to say other than
its weird. Its about a group of people, one being a kid, in the middle
of a snowy desert who capture Santa Claus who has strange eyes, acts
really weird, and possibly eats children I don't know. It's weird. This
Santa Claus can snap in a minute. Watch out.

Then they take the strange Santa Claus to bargain with one of the elves
but then the elf gets offed and a bunch of elves come after them and it
turns out they captured an elf who looks like Santa Claus and Santa is
encased in some icy home which needs to be destroyed.... you see what I
mean? This film is weird! The ending was decent enough but it was still
very weird and bizarre and.... yeah definitely an acid trip.

So smoke some weed and watch Rare Exports. I think that was what this
film was made for!

61 out of 118 people found the following review useful:Reacher Rules, 21 December 2012

I came into this movie for one thing and one thing only: entertain me.
The movie did just that and I'm happy. Tom Cruise has an impressive
resume. I'm not the biggest fan of his or anything but I cannot deny
his incredible list of movies. Jack Reacher is one of those movies.

First, let me start out by saying that, in the near future when this
movie reaches cable or TV and someone hasn't heard of Jack Reacher.
Well, they will think this movie has no title because the title "Jack
Reacher" is in the same lettering and font as the cast. With that being
said, the movie starts off well. In fact, it was riveting because we
see future son of John McClane (Jai Courtney) shooting down people with
a sniper rifle. What makes it riveting is that we are seeing from the
eye of a sniper and what exactly we are seeing from their eyes. Its
really well done. Of course he shoots people and the police catch the
wrong guy.

Enter Jack Reacher. We are given exposition that he is ghost and that
you only find him when he finds you, that type of thing. Pretty soon
Jack is investigating the framed sniper, and all sorts of people come
out to get a piece of him but luckily Jack is one of those people with
a "particular set of skills" and goes all Jason Bourne on them. The
action scenes are awesome! I particularly love the car chase scene, you
know, the one you saw in the commercial all the time when he's just
blending in with the onlookers and the cops never think to check the
people in the crowd. What disturbs me on that scene was the cops
automatically finger point him for a crime. I just didn't get why they
were chasing him in the first place. Did I miss something here or was
this just an excuse for a cool action sequence?

While I'm on the negatives here, I just felt like Tom Cruise and that
other lead girl he was with (the name escapes me) just felt like
characters written on a page. True, I like some of the dialogue Cruise
gives out, but I just can't help but seeing them as Hollywood
stereotypes.

With that being said, the movie was awesome and I was never bored. It's
the last movie I'm seeing this year. So looking forward to what they
have in store for 2013!

4 out of 12 people found the following review useful:"A hobbit? I never heard of a hobbit before? Sounds like orc mischief to me!", 14 December 2012

I couldn't wait for this movie. I took my beautiful date Terra and my
beautiful friend Gina and it would be a glorious night. But dang, is
this movie long! I think it covered more than half the book!

In case you don't know, the movie starts with an old Bilbo narrating as
that dragon Smaug attacks the dwarfs and steals their gold. Gandalf
enlists young Bilbo (played brilliantly by Martin Freeman) invades his
home with the dwarfs and the adventure begins. A lot of amazing things
happen along the way (I especially like the scene with the trolls and
the fight in the Ewok village later in the movie) but I hate to say it,
but man I sure miss Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli from Lord of the Rings.
I really didn't care for either of the dwarfs. I loved Bilbo and
Gandalf, but these dwarfs. Ugh. Especially, Troin, or whatever his name
was, he just seems so bitter and one-dimensional. He hates the elves
and finds an awful place to sleep. I swear, every time he finds a place
to sleep, trouble happens. He always seem to endanger them when he
finds shelter. I also don't know much about the other dwarfs other than
they act like children and get mad when someone is trying to help them,
especially the elves. Then every single time they are in danger, you
know Gandalf will be there to save them. It happens every time. Gandalf
should be on this quest by himself! Just to get one more negative out
of the way, some scenes drag on a little longer than they should and I
almost think this could have been made into one movie.

With that being said, I absolutely loved Bilbo. I enjoyed every scene
he was in. Martin Freeman's performance really captured what I think of
when I think of a hobbit. Also his scenes with Gollum are simply
fantastic. The game of riddles was handled so wonderfully, that I
almost wished that was the entire film. Ian McKelland's Gandalf was
also excellent, as always, and really the two characters of Bilbo and
Gandalf are the core of this film.

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, definitely see this movie. Despite
some of my criticisms, I still think it was a really good movie. I'm
looking forward to the next one in 2013.

2 out of 7 people found the following review useful:A Historic Achievement, 24 November 2012

I finally saw this with my mom and my sister and I'm glad I did. To me,
it's a real treat to see a new Steven Spielberg film. It's like a
theatrical Christmas present. With that being said, I enjoyed Lincoln:
a movie that could have been very boring but carried by strong,
outstanding performances.

Daniel Day Lewis obviously invoked the character of Abraham Lincoln,
and brings so much warmth and personality to his role that you really
feel like you are watching the real Abe Lincoln. It's his story about
freeing the slaves, probably the event he's most known for, and every
scene is handled beautifully. You can see the passion Spielberg had in
this film, and everyone in the cast, including the writers, brought in
their A-game.

I can honestly see this film viewed in classrooms in the future. It's a
great historic piece. If this film doesn't win a lot of awards come
Oscar time, it's been robbed!

4 out of 9 people found the following review useful:Life of Pi is Fun, 23 November 2012

Life of Pi is one of those films that you would think about leaving the
theater and would stick with you for a long while. It has a lasting
appeal, and a great ending that is not often seen in films these days
as most film endings suck.

It didn't start out strong though as we follow an older Pi telling his
story to a journalist. He covers the younger years of his life, and if
anyone has ever seen The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, you will know
that his earlier years is fairly boring. We discover why his name is
Pi, and its from a swimming pool. Okay. It isn't until he gets older
where we finally see him on that boat and that big tidal wave hits, and
the imagery is astounding. Pi is thrust into a lifeboat and this is
really where our movie begins. Pi is trapped on a boat with animals: a
zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a fierce tiger. In fact, most of the
movie is spent with Pi surviving hunger and not being eaten by this
tiger in the middle of the ocean. What a great concept! It's also
narrated by Pi, and its fantastic!

If there is one complaint that I think most people would agree on is
the use of very heavy CG. You can almost say there is too much CG and
what is some beautiful cinematography. The tiger especially as it looks
very good, but at times you can tell it was CG. You would notice this
on a scene on a beach where the tiger is walking. The movement seems a
little off and it ruins some of the realism on what could have been a
very emotional scene.

I can't recommend Life of Pi enough though. There's so many things I
could say about it and it is a fantastic journey that if I saw it as a
kid, it would be one of those movies I look back on and love even just
for nostalgia sake. I'm seeing it again with my mom. This is one
journey I think everyone should experience!

3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:A Good Flight, 5 November 2012

My mom really wanted to see this and I'm a big fan of Robert Zemeckis
so it was a win-win situation here. By the end of the film, my mom was
in tears so I know we seen a good movie.

The film follows Whip (Denzel Washington), a pilot who we first see in
bed with a hot chick, drinking beer, and snorting cocaine. That's our
lead, ladies and gentlemen. What's scarier is that he's about to fly a
plane full of passengers. However, he just passes out and the plane
malfunctions all on its own. His co-pilot just freaks out but Whip
keeps it cool, leveling the plane... and then inverts it. Weird. But
what's cool is that we get to see from a cockpit perspective. Honestly,
never before have I seen a film that really captures the whole flying
thing. I never flown before so this was a close experience.

Sure enough, he lands the plane but it crashes. Luckily, most everyone
survived except six people. Still, people want blood and because Whip
has an alcohol and drug problem, they want to put him away. So instead
of, oh I don't know, staying off the booze, he keeps drinking. Everyone
who is trying to help him tells him to stop, but he keeps drinking. So
throughout the film, he copes with that but he just can't stop and
pushing away everyone around him.

The performances were excellent in this movie. Some of the
conversations felt very real, and I sense Oscar nods coming their way.
It helps when the writing is superb. The only thing about this movie
that it doesn't really have the charm as some of the other Zemeckis
films. I don't see repeat viewings or anything. Also, product placement
galore!